2025 NHL DRAFT PROSPECT PROFILE: ROGER McQUEEN #nhl #anaheim #sanjose #injury #draft #sharks #ducks
Massive NHL prospect Roger McQueen had long been in the talks as the potential number one overall selection in this year’s NHL draft. However, a back injury has turned him into a high risk, highreward selection. So, today we’re going to take a look at Roger McQueen, his injury, and where we think he’ll go in this upcoming NHL draft. Hey everybody, welcome in to Clearing the Benches, your one-stop shop for hockey content. If you go ahead and hit your subscribe button right now, you’ll be sure to be in on all of our future videos. Well, Roger McQueen is a monster of a kid. He’s 18 years old. He played for Brandon in the Western Hockey League this year. 6520B. Uh, unfortunately for him, he had an injury and he missed a huge chunk of the season with this back injury. The name of it is too long and difficult for me to pronounce, so I’m going to go with the layman’s term. It is a pars stress fracture and what that is it is a vertebrae fracture in the lower spine and unfortunately it is caused to repetitive stress. Uh the pars is also the weakest point of the vertebrae. So when you go in there to fix this you got to get it right. And unfortunately the book on this type of injury is that it doesn’t always heal. So for a guy who’s about to start playing professional hockey and your back is a huge part of that and we’ve seen guys Gino Malin, you know, with injuries to his back and slowed him down. Back in the day, Mario Lemieux had back injuries that slowed him down. So these can really be tricky uh situations. Now, however, let’s look at McQueen when he was on the ice after he came back from his injury. Everyone said he looked like his old self. It took him a couple of games to get ramped up, but once he did, he was back on it. He had 20 points in just 17 games this season along with 40 penalty minutes. So, he was a busy boy. The book on him says he’s a heavy hitter, epitome of a power forward. When healthy, they say around the net, he’s nearly unstoppable and he’s tenacious. Again, this is a 6’5, 200lb kid. he goes to 230 pounds, you don’t know how hard it’s going to be to move that kid away from the net. Uh he creates space for himself so he can get off shots in tight areas. When you look at what some of the bigname pundits are saying about him, Samantino says when he’s healthy, he is no doubt a top 10 player in this draft. I even think when healthy, he would be in the top three talks. Adam Kimmelman says he’s the most intriguing player in the draft and that he checks every box on every NHL coach and GM list. So when you look at a guy like that, you go down his resume, you see he’s everything you want. It’s just that black cloud of a question mark hanging over the kid’s head. Uh Mike Morial, who I respect big time, says this kid’s got an extremely high motor. So for him to say that this kid must just be like the Energizer Bunny out there, despite his injury, he still ranks anywhere between five and 11 on most scouting boards. And when you look at the teams that are picking in there, you know, again, if there’s a team with multiple selections in the first round, maybe you take a flyer on this kid if you’re drafting in the top 10. Otherwise, you know, he may drop down, you know, 15, possibly 20. I doubt it, but you know, you never know. With an injury, kid could drop out of the first round entirely. I highly doubt that’ll happen to him, but it could be a possibility. Uh they say he uses his linemates well. He sees the ice well. He sees where guys are headed and he’s able to get him the puck there so that they don’t have to slow down or speed up or do anything. The puck is just on their tent. Uh he’s also like we said silky smooth and around the net. The kid is nearly unstoppable. He’s great. Like they said tight space, you know, kind of Tage Thompsonesque. Uh when you look at the NHL comps for this kid, you know, lots of different names. Kirby Doc, Ryan Johansson, Gino Mulan, they’re saying, you know, if this kid were to be healthy and pan out, that’s the type of player he is. a big, you know, I don’t want to say methodical, but yeah, methodical. When they get in their zone, they know exactly what to do, and they do it with success. Uh, he’s got a similar game to another prospect in this draft, and that is Porter Martone, a kid I absolutely love. Another big kid. I think Marone’s going to go in the top three. I think some team is going to just look at his size and skill level and it’s just going to be too much for them uh to pass on. The only concern of Roger McQueen according to the scouts is his skating. They say he’s got to work on his skating. They say he’s not like a Braden Point type of guy who can grab the puck in his own and just take off rocket and drive the offense. Everyone else follows him and the defense is like, “Whoa, what’s happening right now?” Uh kid loves to forche again. He’s a puck hound. He’s one of those kids that he really wants to see the puck on his stick. So again, Roger McQueen was once talked about as the number one overall selection, but now he’s high risk, high reward. So let me know what you think about Roger McQueen. Put it down in the comments section. Let me know what teams you think would be interested in drafting him. I think the Anaheim Ducks would be perfect for him. They’re drafting right around 10. Pat Verbique’s got a lot of young kids in that lineup and if this kid can stay healthy, he would be a Pat Verbique favorite. So, I could see the Ducks being a team. So, let me know, like I said, down in the comments section. If you could please hit your subscribe button, hit the like button, and as we always do here at Clearing the Benches, let them know you’re out there.
Massive NHL draft prospect Roger McQueen has long been in the conversation as the number one overall selection however a back injury sidelined him for most of his draft eligible season and he has now turned into a high risk high reward player today we will look at Roger McQueen on the ice his injury and where we think he will be selected in the NHL draft in Los Angeles. #nhl #draft #crypto #losangeles #ducks #sharks #sanjose #chicago
